Overall and FV
As I spoke about on our other HD 7770 review, AMD put its vendors in a tough spot with the HD 7770. The reference design comes in at $159.99 with this card costing slightly more. The additional cost gets you an aftermarket cooler and a nice overclock over the stock reference design. That price alone isn't too bad until you consider that you can get an HD 6870 for a few bucks less, and that’s even before the rebates. That puts what could be a great card in a position where we can’t really recommend picking one up until the market changes a little bit. After the back stock of HD 6870’s runs out, or if we saw a slight price drop on this card, it could be a perfect addition to your budget build. But until this I would be hesitant. Now if you are on the market for an HD 7770 no matter what, how does this card hold up? This card does have a nice overclock and cooler similar in performance and price to the XFX card we tested. That boils down to brand preference. The 7/10 we gave this card here is based completely on AMD’s decision on the price, hopefully that is resolved in the future making this a better buy.